Life of an Initiate
by Robert Edwards
Summary: Bobby's one of the newest BOS initiates, but does he have what it takes to excel in the ranks? Or will his past get the better of him... Hoping to turn this into a series, so please review!
1. Chapter 1

"_Fuck this"_

_The sprawled body of Bobby's friend of over ten years lay on the ground. Blood gushed from the giant red artery coming out of the stump that Johnny's head used to sit up on. Small chunks of brain matter from the broken cranium stuck to the recon armor worn by the newly-upgraded initiate._

_Using the nearly broken AE37 Laser Pistol, the initiate threw away all of the training on stealth taught to him and rushed past the crumpled body of the former Paladin and through the rusted gates of the Talon Company base of operations known as Fort Constantine. _

_Unfortunately, the missile launcher-totting thug on the collapsed platform of a building just happened to spot him._

_A large, gray cylinder propelled itself towards Bobby's position, exploding merely feet away from him. A rock was thrown through the air and landed with a thud on his elbow. _

_Blood started to seep through the wound, staining the new armor._

_As Bobby grunted through the pain, more mercs crowded the area. One cell was loaded and the laser pistol was aimed at the most lethal threat: the mercenary with the missile launcher. All the while, the click of Chinese assault rifles being loaded was continuous._

How'd it come to this?_ Bobby pulled the trigger. He watched in horror as the blunt end of the rifle was decimated by a 5.56mm round. Now with no fire power or proper protection, the only other choice was escape. Climbing onto his wobbling and numb feet, Bobby ran past the gate towards Jury Street._

_However, his sprint was ended when 27 rounds were emptied into his chest and gut. He fell to his knees as he gasped for breath in his deflating lungs. He dropped to his knees, knowing that his life would be taken today._

Water surged over Bobby's face. He screamed as he leapt out of the bed, falling onto the hard floor. Looking up in his sleepy gaze, he saw the Paladin who's been giving him hell for the past three weeks.

Paladin Gunny had a sly look on his face with a bucket under one arm. "C'mon, initiate. You're three hours late…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bobby could see the sun out of the corner of his eyes, already past its position of noon. "Fuck this," he ushered under his breath as he got to his breath.

But Gunny's ears seemed to catch his remark. "Hey! Give me twenty, rookie!"

Reluctantly, Bobby retained his spot on the ground and went into push up position. As he pushed his body up and down from the ground, he thought to himself, _this is gonna be a _great_ day, isn't it?_


	2. Chapter 2

"I mean, why am I the only one Gunny picks on all the time? Seriously, when the fuck did he-" Bobby's accusations lingered off as he saw the initiate next to him with his back to him.

"Hey!" The older man next to him was stirred from his previously uninterrupted work to stare at the young soon-to-be soldier next to him. "Were you even listening to me? Do you even know what I was talking about-"

"Could you just shut the FUCK up once in a while? Jesus…" The older man in recon armor near him chuckled a bit before turning around and revealing his project to Bobby.

An AEP7 laser pistol was lying on top of the wooden plank in front of him. The slot where the energy cells would be loaded was wide open. "Listen," the man whispered. "The damned cell burst inside the pistol. I have to get all the bits out or this piece o' shit isn't firing anymore." He wiped sweat from his face. "Gunny's gonna kill me…"

Bobby rolled his eyes before acknowledging the worried look on the man's face. After a slightly exaggerated sigh, Bobby said, "Alright. Just give me it, Tony." Suddenly, that look of grief disappeared when the energy weapon was placed in the Bobby's hands.

Tony was a good man, albeit not the most skilled. At thirty-four years old, he seemed to be one of the oldest initiates at the Citadel. He was Caucasian, very underweight, and was scared shitless when a minor patrol of the D.C. ruins found him being dragged away by a small but menacing group of super mutants. As Bobby began to open up one of the side panels, he reminisced on Tony's arrival.

{0}[0]{0}

The pale blue and usually locked doors leading to the courtyard swung open. Who stumbled through took everyone by surprise.

A man fell onto his knees and caught the ground with his hands before getting back up. This person wore no shirt, but was clothed with a pair of blood covered pants. He was very thin, with his rib cage pushing against the skin on his chest slightly. His eyes, however, were a dead giveaway to the troubles he had been through.

Almost immediately afterwards, a knight followed two paladins and walk towards the outsider. "Please tell me that a dead brother is worth saving your sorry-ass." The paladin in front removed her helmet to reveal the face of no one other than Sentinel Lyons, one of the most bad-ass, and hottest, members of the Capitol Wasteland division of the Brotherhood.

Bobby had a crush on her, but he wasn't too open about it.

"Ma'am, I-I-I'm r-r-really sorry." The man was on the urge of sobbing when he dropped his head. "They're all dead…"

Lyons' face went from one of swelling anger and frustration to one of sympathy and regret. "Wait. Look…" She sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happ-"

"They're all DEAD!" he exclaimed. "All of them. My daughter, my wife, my best friend, all of them… DEAD!" Right then, the man shoved his palms into his face and sobbed. Streams of tears flowed by the dirt covering his face.

Lyons didn't know how to respond to the outburst. Instead, she said something to the knight next to her, who immediately rushed past a group of initiates and into the barracks. When the knight returned, a suit of recon armor was in his arms.

The Sentinel grabbed the clothing and threw it to the newcomer, who fumbled to catch them. "You can stay, but only if you work." She then walked by him and head towards A-Ring, with the other two in pursuit.

The man just stared at the back of Lyons as she slowly walked away.

{0}[0]{0}

"Oh my fucking god…"

The comment from Tony stirred Bobby from his thoughts and shook his head.

After about two minutes, what seemed like the last shard was out of the weapon. Before he shut it, however, he noticed another problem that wouldn't be fixed so soon.

_Ah, shit_, he thought as he saw that some of the wiring had been sliced by the broken cell. _So much for an easy fix._

But Bobby worried too much about what happened if Gunny found out what happened to Tony's weapon than he did himself. So, after a few unsuccessful attempts, he was able to use his own cables to repair the AEP7 and hand it to Tony, only moments before Paladin Gunny ever-so-coincidentally waltzes by to inspect the two.

Tony popped off a few rounds as Gunny passed by. "Good job." Gunny then took a look at Bobby, who was sitting down with a Laser Pistol that was wide open. "Well, well, well," said the paladin. "What do we have here?"

Bobby decided to take the fall. "I… I just forgot to properly load the cells, which-"

"Which I just showed you this morning, didn't I, initiate?" Gunny really did seem to hate him. "Fifty push-ups, Jefferson. Now."

Bobby gave Tony a quick smirk, who didn't even giggle as the initiate dropped to the ground and did his punishment.


End file.
